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President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, gave a robust defence of his administration’s performance at mid-term and dismissed public and media assessment of his ministers, saying the criticisms were mostly bereft of objectivity.
President Jonathan spoke at the public presentation of the administration’s mid-term report in Abuja during which administration officials rolled out positive financial indicators which among others was that Nigeria has become the highest investment destination in the continent.
The presentation was graced by former Nigerian leaders, including former President Shehu Shagari, General Yakubu Gowon, Chief Ernest Shonekan, former Chief of General Staff, Gen. Oladipo Diya; one-time United States presidential candidate, Jesse Jackson among others.
Also present at the event were the Senate President, Sen. David Mark; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar.
Jackson, speaking at the occasion, commended the president for giving a mid-term report of his performance. He said that it was indicative that the ship of the nation was sailing in the right direction.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim also commended the leadership of President Jonathan, who he said had shown impressive democratic culture through his restraint in the face of unparalleled challenges to his authority.
President Jonathan was nevertheless dismissive of media assessment of his administration. He said that as a former teacher, he was conscious of the fact that any examination should be guided by a marking scheme.
He thus challenged the media to use the 234-page report as a veritable tool for any objective assessment.
He said: “Only on Monday, I looked through a particular publication in one of our dailies, which gave an assessment of the performance of the ministers.
“The first thing I looked for that I did not see was the criteria they used to assess the performance of the ministers. As a teacher, I know that for you to mark a student, you must have a marking scheme. Because, assessment could be very subjective, and if a fellow politician is assessing another politician, you assess the person based on heartbeats.”
He said two ministries; the ministries of Trade and Investments and National Planning which performed creditably well were rated average.
“Since I came to the centre in 2007, I have worked with three ministers of National Planning and three ministers of Trade and Investments. They have never done what is being done today.
“In terms of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attracted to this country by activities of that ministry, it has never happened. In spite of our security challenges, there is so much interest from business men wanting to come to Nigeria.
“Before now, that Ministry of Trade and Investments was a dead end, but now they are very active. Talk about Ministry of Planning, people say that until Shamsudeen came on board, we did not even know that we had a Planning Ministry.
“But these two ministries were scored average and I asked what are the criteria? That is the purpose of today, our elders, ladies and gentlemen. The idea is to formally present a document to all Nigerians about the activities of the government these past two years.
“I plead with all of us especially those who want to assess and write about it to develop criteria because without a marking scheme, you cannot mark anybody’s paper. Develop your own, compare with previous governments. Develop your marking scheme and mark us.”
Source: Naij.com
Source: Vanguard
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